Updates on Senate Bill 608: State-Wide Rent Control

On Tuesday, February 12, the Oregon Senate passed SB 608 in a 17-11 vote. Now it will move on to the Oregon House.

According to OPB, “Senate Bill 608 is now expected to sail through the Oregon House of Representatives, the more left-leaning chamber, which passed a similar bill in 2017, and makes Oregon the first state in the country to have statewide caps on rent increases. (Governor Kate Brown has also expressed support for the bill's concepts.)”

Under this bill, rent increases will now be capped at 7 percent (plus inflation) in buildings that are more than 15-years-old. The bill will also require most landlords to cite a cause such as a lease violation before evicting a tenant who has lived there for over a year. Some “landlord-based” evictions would still be allowed but they would have to provide 90 day’s notice.

Think’s Founder, Tim Pitts, testified in support of SB 608 at the House Committee on Human Services and Housing. While some people in the real estate industry oppose these new protections, the bill is not nearly as restrictive as rent-control policies in other parts of the country, and gives tenants some stability in their living situation.